AP file photoU.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg is calling to WWOR to beef up its news coverage of New Jersey.

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating claims made by a state media watchdog that Fox, licensee of Secaucus-based WWOR-TV, misrepresented both its staffing levels in New Jersey and the quantity and quality of its New Jersey-centric programming.

Fox has been waiting since February 2007 for the FCC to renew its license for WWOR, the only high-power commercial television stationed licensed in the state.

The station is legally required to "serve the people of New Jersey."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who testified at a 2007 public hearing that WWOR has failed to meet its service obligations to New Jersey viewers, said yesterday in a statement that its failure continues.

"Channel 9 is required by law to cover New Jersey news, but when you turn on the TV all you hear is what's happening in another state," Lautenberg said.

Media watchdog Voices for New Jersey filed a complaint in November 2009 with the FCC, saying WWOR's performance was "clearly inadequate to meet its public interest obligations."